Travelling Soldier
by Franglish Humanoid
Summary: Winter War songfic AU. Tino, an orphan, falls in love with a Swedish soldier come to help fight back the opposition. SuFin.


Well, this is a surprise! I was meant to be writing the next chapter of pwap, but the SuFin bag decided to remind me that despite it being one of my fave pairings, I had so far ignored it. So this was born. Enjoy. And btw, listen to this song, it's amazing.

And remember, I do not own Hetalia, or the song Travellin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks, although I did treek the lyrics (italics) to fit better, and I know virtually nothing about the winter war, the names of towns are names I randomly chose off of google maps, feel free to correct me on anything about them.

_Two days past eighteen  
>He was waiting for the bus in his army whites<br>Sat down in a corner in a tavern there  
>Gave his order to a boy with a beret on his head<br>He's a little shy so he gives him a smile  
>And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while<br>And talking to me,  
>I'm feeling a little low<br>He said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go_

It was an ordinary evening working in the village tavern for young orphan Tino, he had been taken in by the tavern owners and was looked after in exchange for working during the always busy dinner time shift. He was just collecting empty tankards when a young Swedish soldier with a serious face sat down in the furthest corner.

Knowing his job off by heart Tino collected a fresh mug of ale and approached the man to give it to him. As he approached the man blushed and lowered his eyes. 'A shy one, eh?' Tino thought to himself, he gave the man, who, on closer inspection really wasn't much more than a boy, a kind smile and asked him if there was anything else that he wanted.

"Th'r' 's r'lly, 'f ya d'n't m'nd," he said, blushing hard with his eyes fixed as low as they could go on the table, "ya s'', 'm k'nda s'd, w'ld ya sit w'th ma, f'r a wh'le?"

Tino looked at the crowd of people at the bar and replied, "Tell you what, we're closing soon, I know somewhere we can sit and chat in peace."

The Swede blushed so hard Tino thought his face would explode and nodded quietly.__

_So they went down and they sat by the lake right there  
>He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care<br>I got no one to send a letter to  
>Would you mind if I sent one back here to you<br>_

The two men, only free from childhood walked down by the shore of a nearby lake. Tino pulling the bigger man to sit on a long beside him.

"You haven't told me your name even! Mine's Tino."

"B'rwald." The tall boy replied simply.

For several hours they sat and chatted about everything and nothing. Tino found out that his new friend was in fact part of the support troop being sent to help the Finns combat the Russian army. The taller boy finally asked Tino what he'd been dying to say for hours, "L'sten, I 'magin' ya got s'm'ne sp'cial, b't I g't n' one, w'ld ya m'nd 'f a s'nt a l'tter b'ck to ya fr'm th' fr'nt l'ne?"

_I cried  
>Never gonna hold the hand of another guy<br>Too young for him they told him  
>Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier<br>Our love will never end  
>Waitin' for the soldier to come back again<br>Never more to be alone when the letter said  
>A soldier's coming home<br>_

Tino couldn't help himself, he found tears falling from his eyes as he repeated yes into the soldiers shoulder.

And as they departed each others company, early the next morning, Berwald rushed back for a brief moment, pressing his lips to Tino's softly and murmuring in his deep voice "I l've ya, T'no, 'll c'me b'ck fer ya, I pr'mise."

And then he was gone.

Most of the town saw the painful parting of the new-found sweethearts, a few, such as the Hungarian lady, Elizabeta, that lived next to the tavern, approved, but most seemed to think that Tino was far too young to be with Berwald, that he should move on, that if he was so in love with army men he would find another, more suitable partner.

But Tino was content to wait forever if needs be, he vowed that he would wait for _his _soldier to come back again.

_So the letters came from an army camp  
>In Kuopio then Imatra<br>And he told him of his heart  
>It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of<br>He said when it's getting kinda rough over here  
>I think of that day sittin' down at the lake<br>And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile  
>Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile<br>_

Berwald, true to his word, sent letters as often as he could to Tino, first from a camp in Kuopio and then from the fighting zone, near Imatra. In his letters he told Tino how he felt about everything, how he felt so in love with Tino and how he was scared of the violence, the mayhem and anarchy that war was brining to so many innocent people. He told him when things started going wrong of how he'd close his eyes and remember that night at the lake, he'd remember Tino's lovely voice, beautiful smile and kind eyes. In the last letter he said that he wouldn't be able to write o him for a little while, they were going in deeper.

_I cried  
>Never gonna hold the hand of another guy<br>Too young for him they told him  
>Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier<br>Our love will never end  
>Waitin' for the soldier to come back again<br>Never more to be alone when the letter said  
>A soldier's coming home<br>_

Tino cried when he got that particular letter, he was so very worried about Berwald's safety.

_One Friday night at a hockey game  
>The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang<br>A man said folks would you bow your heads  
>For a list of Winter War dead<br>Crying all alone behind the stands  
>Was a piccolo player in the marching band<br>And one name read but nobody really cared  
>But a cute little boy with a beret on his head<br>_

One night, whilst a hockey match was being played to raise the villagers morales, the announcer stood up and asked them to bow their heads in memory of a Swedish soldier killed in combat.

Tino retreated from the lake, tears threatening to overwhelm him. Nobody in the crowd really seemed to care. __

_I cried  
>Never gonna hold the hand of another guy<br>Too young for him they told him  
>Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier<br>Our love will never end  
>Waitin' for the soldier to come back again<br>Never more to be alone when the letter said  
>A soldier's coming home<em>

Tino wept and wept in his room, refusing food even when he became sick. The people who had criticized him now hissed venomously '_look what that damned soldier has done! This is all HIS fault!'_

They told Tino to just _move on_, but the stubborn little Finn refused, he wouldn't, he _couldn't. _And then a scrap of paper arrived in the post, it was no more than a few centimetres, torn from a poster of some sorts, but it had the most important five words of Tino's life.

It read simply:

Tino,

I'm coming home,

Berwald. 


End file.
